On this show Gary shares a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure he had while kayaking this fall in the Bay of Fundy. He and his son Brendan were paddling with Bruce Smith of Seascape Kayak Tours when an 8-foot shark bumped their kayak. With jaws wide open, it slid along the side of the kayak just inches away from the surprised paddlers. Listen to the story and the feature interview with Bruce Smith.

Eric Hendrickson of Presque Isle, Maine spent a week cycling solo around New Brunswick and Maine this fall. He shares Part-1 of his biking journal with us.

Two stories on the show today about people on a journey. The first, about a man cycling across Canada to raise awareness about mental illness. The second, about a runner whose goal is to complete a marathon in every US State and every Canadian province and territory. When Gary spoke with them, both were close to reaching their goals.

Carol, Lindsay & Mel Thompson

60-year-old Mel Thompson spent the summer on a 100 day journey across Canada. Thompson, along with his wife Carol and daughter Lindsay participated in The Ride for Mental Health to raise awareness about mental illness and get people talking about the issues surrounding it.

Although mental illness affects one in five Canadians at some point in their lives, there is still a social stigma attached to mental illness that keeps many people from seeking the help they need. It is the disease that no one likes to talk about, but it has a devastating impact on people who suffer from it, their families and society in general. The Ride for Mental Health aims to bring the issues of mental illness out in the open, get people to share their own experiences with it, and debunk the myths and misconceptions of mental illness. In addition to raising awareness, The Ride for Mental Health aims to raise $250,000 to support mental health programs across Canada.

Mel Thompson understands first-hand the struggles of dealing with mental illness. His ride is inspired by his daughter Lindsay, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a teenager. “No one is immune from mental illness and when it hits you, or someone you love, you are never prepared,”says Thompson. “But there is treatment and recovery and that is how our family stays optimistic. Lindsay hopes to one day be able to return to school and work and we hope these dreams will come true.”

Charlie Viers

68 year old Charlie Viers from Louisiana loves running, especially in marathons. He’s completed a marathon in every state and has almost bagged a marathon in every province and territory in Canada. Charlie is a member of the 50 States Marathon Club. So what keeps this guy running? That’s what Gary wanted to find out when he spoke with Charlie in our ‘Runners’ segment.

Rancho La Bellota is a 2800 acre horse ranch located just 40 miles south of the Tecate, California border and 75 miles south of the San Diego, California border in Baja California, Mexico. The ranch offers exciting trail rides and scenic exploration for all levels of riders, all of which are geared towards specific scenic destinations. Ride through shady oak groves, hidden water pools, quiet secluded valleys and vast mountain ranges as you step back in time to the days when man needed only a good horse, his dog and the simplicities of nature to round out a good day. Our feature interview today is with Caroline Aguiar of Baja Rancho La Bellota.

In our ‘Runners’ segment Gary meets a former runner who is now a hard-core Nordic Walker. He had to quit running after an injury and now more than makes up for it with his ‘pole walking’.

Gary also talks about his recent three day hike of the Dobson Trail in New Brunswick and we have music on the show by Cameron Latimer of British Columbia. Contact Doing Stuff Outdoors with your comments and outdoor adventures at doingstuffoutdoors@yahoo.ca.

Something completely different this time on DSO. Gary introduces you to the world of high power rocketry. It’s not your typical outdoor activity but it’s definitely done in the outdoors and involves chasing these rockets across the countryside. Here’s a write up about the event:

Gollan family

They came. They camped. They blasted off. They are members of a small but passionate group of rocketry enthusiasts. About 50 members of the NB Rocketry Club and other groups from the region, along with a handful of spectators, spent two days recently under 25,000 feet of open sky on a hill top in the middle of Base Gagetown. This was the Rage in the Gage Rocket Launch held annually on the Labour Day Weekend.

Tom Raithby of Willow Grove is one of the organizers of the event. He says this is the biggest launch of high power rockets they have every year. To fire off these bigger rockets they need permission to use the airspace and the operators must be certified. These rockets are not toys even though these enthusiasts are all amateurs and hobbyists. For them building and launching rockets is what the hobby is all about.

You may be familiar with the model rockets that kids build and launch, sometimes in school or Scout programs. These things are impressive and can go as high as a thousand feet. There were plenty of model rockets at Rage in the Gage but this was really a vehicle for the big boys to show off their work. High power rockets come in various sizes and with different engines but they’re capable of reaching altitudes of 10,000 ft. or more and velocities in the supersonic range. Many of these rockets have complicated electronics in them that transmit the altitude, speed and location of the rocket. This is essential to find them because the rockets employ a parachute to gently bring them back to earth and sometimes the rockets can land far from the launch site.

“I really like that I can send something that high and I can build it myself and I can get it back without breaking it,” says Raithby. “It’s really satisfying to send something up against the elements and bring it back unbroken.”

Tom Raithby

Of course some times accidents happen and rockets crash but that’s all part of the hobby. With all rocketry you’re dealing with explosives and sharing air space with planes so safety during the launch and decent is the most important thing. All rockets must be inspected before launch and the range is tightly controlled by the launch director during any flight.

Greg Gollan from Windsor, Nova Scotia has one of the largest rockets this year at Gagetown. His rocket called Dragon Farts is 9 feet long and weights 37 pounds. It has five motors on it with a combined burn time of 9.5 seconds that can produce 1,125 pounds of thrust. It can reach an altitude of 7,000 feet and best of all, the rocket has an onboard video camera to record the whole flight. Gollan says he built the rocket for 3 or 4 hundred dollars and he has about $300 of electronics on it. He says the propellants to launch the rocket cost about $400 every flight and it takes about five hours to prepare the rocket for launch. “It’s awesome….what a rush,” says Gollan after the successful first launch of Dragon Farts at Rage in the Gage.

We have music on the show this week from Nasty Boy and Art Hodge. Email your comments and story suggestions to us at doingstuffoutdoors@yahoo.ca

Our feature interview today is with Dennis Blanchard of Florida. He’s an outdoors enthusiast whose main interests are hiking, mountain bike racing and riding and occasional kayaking. In 2007, at the age of 60 he set out on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. He even brought along some portable ham radio equipment to make radio contacts from every State the trail goes through. But partway through the hike something happened. Unfortunately (or fortunately for him, as the case may be) he had to take 300 days off for a six-artery heart bypass surgery. As soon as the doctors allowed him, he got back on the trail and finished last October 1st. He’s 62 and feeling great and his story is inspirational. In fact he’s writing a book about the experience called “300 Zeros.”

Also on the show more of your comments from Facebook and email. We hear about a hike up Mount Carleton in New Brunswick and experience the first snows of the year. Gary also wades into the touchy area of public health care and the impact it has on outdoor enthusiasts. Email us at doingstuffoutdoors@yahoo.ca

Our feature interview today is with potter Darren Emenau of New Brunswick. When this talented artist isn’t working in his studio, he’s playing in the outdoors. Gary talks with him by the bank of a stream that runs behind his home. Darren recounts how he dodged bus size chunks of falling ice while skiing in Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire this past spring. He talks about a recent canoe trip from hell and how he combines his love of the outdoors with his art.

Normally we stay away from gas engines and spark plugs on DSO but Gary couldn’t resist talking to Peter Herbruck about his classic wooden boat. Gary met him this summer in Muskoka cottage country in Ontario. Peter is from Ohio and for many years his family has spent summers on Lake Rosseau. His pride and joy is a 22 foot Chris Craft Cadet. This classic wooden boat with the original inboard engine was built in the mid 1920’s.

Music on the show this week from Clayton. Send along your comments and story suggestions to doingstuffoutdoors@yahoo.ca

Lorne Blagdon experiences some real Trail Magic on this edition, those random acts of kindness, those good things that come to you when you least expect it. They’re on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee, hear gunshots in the night again and see a wild turkey. But Trail Magic finds them in the form of a hamburger the size of a saucer and Lorne is given a free bottle of rum and offered some real Tennessee moonshine. It was a good day on the trail.

Culy Dan, Lorne, Naomi and Tom on the AT

Also today a field report from Adam Fox in the Coast Range Mountains of Western Oregon. Adam is going on his second run in about ten years and takes us along with him. He follows a forest trail in the foothills of the mountains.

Podsafe music today from a California band called The Brew. Send your comments, story suggestions and accounts of outdoor adventures to Gary via email at doingstuffoutdoors@yahoo.ca